


A Candle in the Darkness

by writerwisegirl



Series: In a hole in the ground.... [1]
Category: Black Widow (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Natasha’s past, Red Room (Marvel), The Hobbit - Freeform, Young Natasha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 14:03:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16138787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerwisegirl/pseuds/writerwisegirl
Summary: He was quiet for a minute as he looked all of them in the face, and his eyes held words he would not seem to say. (That they deserved more than this place, but that couldn’t get them out, and that he sorry.) So, he offered them the only thing he could.





	A Candle in the Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> This is a drabble I wrote in the span of about half an hour at about midnight. Don’t judge to hard, but please comment.

They had been training with him for some time now. Natalia wasn’t really sure how long, they didn’t exactly keep track of the days in the Red Room, and she wasn’t allowed to ask. But she wondered. She wondered how long it had been, and how much longer he would stay. (As it turned out, it would only be one more day, but she didn’t know that yet.) What she did know was that he had been different today. Gentler, when he corrected their positioning, kinder, when someone mentioned the heat (They weren’t all as smart as she was. She knew complaining would only get her punished. Usually.) If she didn’t know better, she almost would have thought he smiled. She didn’t know what to think about it. She certainly could not remember anyone ever being that kind to her or any of her classmates before. It was all she could think about during the rest of her lessons, and as such, she got quite a few punishments. But, she almost didn’t mind. It was nice to have something to think about that wasn’t wondering when she would have to kill a classmate again, (she was only nine years old, but she had already killed two classmates) or what her next training mission would be. So she took her punishments without complaint after all the beatings were nothing new. And the pain in her body had nothing on the joy of this simple mystery.

Her classmates didn’t notice anything until later that night when the door to their dormitory opened, and in walked the Soldat. They had been cuffed to their beds only a few minutes ago, so they were all still awake, and as such, they were all looking at him curiously. He took in the view afforded to him, 18 nine-year-old girls handcuffed to their beds. Natalia could have sworn she saw something strange in his eyes, but it was gone in an instant. (Only years later would she realize that it was guilt, and regret.) Natalia knew he must have taken out the guards, he wasn’t supposed to be here. But they were all wondering what he was going to do, so they made no sound as he walked slowly to the center of the room and sat down. He was quiet for a minute as he looked all of them in the face, and his eyes held words he could not seem to say. (That they deserved more than this place, but that he couldn’t get them out, and that he was sorry.) So, he offered them the only thing he could. He opened his mouth and began to speak.

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”

He continued to talk until all of the girls were fast asleep, and by the time they woke, he was gone. They never saw him again, but that one night was something that Natalia held close to her forever, a candle to guide her through the darkness of the world she was forced into. And she never forgot those words.

_ In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. _


End file.
